Science Fair Help?

[builderbrick]

I'm new to HHO generators and i'm thinking of making a generator for my high school science fair project. I need to make a separator cell but i'm not sure if basing my design off this diagram design would work(Below).

http://cdn.instructables.com/F4A/54HN/F5R8MQ53/F4A54HNF5R8MQ53.MEDIUM.gif

Would this generator design work if I connect 6 electrode plates to the anode and another 6 to the cathode?(I'm planning to use either aluminium or stainless steel)

[Stevo]

Yes, but don't use salt (NaCl) please as it will release chlorine gas. You need to use a catalyst such as these:


Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)


If you want a non-caustic solution, then use Sodium Sulfate (Na2SO4) instead. One more note, you should use 304L or the more preferred 316L stainless steel. Finally, you will not have 100% pure Hydrogen and 100% pure Oxygen on each side respectively, so just keep that in mind as according to your illustration there is not a proton exchange membrane (PEM) separating the two sides. This means that the gases will mix a bit depending on volume generated and water turbulence.

[builderbrick]

Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me where I should put the neutral plates in this design:
Oh and does anyone know if neutral plates produce gas?
http://gyazo.com/8f2e61c4e4f65817d18f8719c8f49fcc.png

[Stevo]

No neutral plates in that design. Yes they produce gas.

[myoldyourgold]

And a lot of heat unless you limit it to 2 volts.

[Stevo]

And a lot of heat unless you limit it to 2 volts.

Answered based on the design presented. I don't think (from the information presented) that he/she wants to build what we know to be a "reactor". This has all the appearance of a straight brute force 12V system to me.

@builderbrick - is your goal to create an efficient system for displaying the production of oxyhydrogen or simply demonstrate Hydrogen and Oxygen liberation at the anode and cathode? There is a lot of information here on these forums that might help you better determine what you are trying to build. If you are using neutral plates in the setup you posted (see image in first post), then you will have a pretty hard time liberating enough gas to demonstrate anything useful not to mention you will need a high concentration of caustic chemicals (~20-28% by weight). If you only use an anode and cathode (2 electrodes 0 neutrals) you will need to disconnect power after each demonstration to avoid overheating and be sure to keep an infared thermometer handy to ensure your temperatures stay below 140F if using PVC tubes. It is also very important to start out by adding very small amounts of catalyst until you are producing enough gas to be demonstrable then stop adding catalyst. This is why I suggested sodium sulfate in my first post as an alternative as is safer and works well above 3.5VDC.

[myoldyourgold]

I agree that is good advice!!

[builderbrick]

Would it work if I add a third tank in the middle that contains the neutral plates so I make O-HHO-H? I'm trying to show oxygen and hydrogen in separate places.